The present invention relates to a washer and a fastener provided with a washer.
It is known to fasten objects with one another with power tools which use fasteners having a multi-part replacement nut, for example including an inner sleeve, an outer sleeve, and a washer. Such a replacement nut is disclosed for example in our U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,560. Another replacement nut is disclosed in our U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,323 in which a bolt has a spline underneath its upper thread, to which a washer is non-rotatably connected, and the bolt also has engaging means for applying a reaction force, while an active force of the same tool turns the nut on the bolt thread and the washer face. In the fastener disclosed in both above mentioned patents, the common features are the use of the action and reaction force of one tool, the elimination of reaction arms on power tools, the conversion of torque to torsion-free bolt stretching and obtaining for the first time the desired residual bolt load rather than a torque, which is estimated based on calculated frictions rather than on actual frictions or a tension, which is based on estimated bolt relaxation when the force is transmitted from the elongated bolt to the hand-tight nut.
When in this application the “bolt” is used, it is used in a very broad term to cover any fastening element which is provided with a thread, such a bolt, a stud, a screw, a threaded rod, a stretch bolt, a through-bolt, a blind casing bolt, etc.
Some solutions are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/112,101, 10/120,343, 10/427,103, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,868.